Love Is (4)
Love Is • Sermon • Submitted
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· 15 viewsWhat is true love? What is the love of God according to the Bible? Part four continues looking at what sound Biblical love is and what it looks like in the life of a believer, as it is being walked out, according to I Corinthians 13.
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Johnny Hayes to update everyone on their rent situation and give testimony about this!
OK, so we are now into week four of our series on the subject of love, which is entitled, “Love Is....”.
OK, so we are now into week four of our series on the subject of love, which is entitled, “Love Is....”.
This past Sunday morning we looked at the foundation upon which the Body of Christ is built upon. That foundation is the perfect LOVE of God. As we looked at last week, the Lord God throughout the scriptures, is called our ROCK.
This past Sunday morning we looked at the foundation upon which the Body of Christ is built upon. That foundation is the perfect LOVE of God. As we looked at last week, the Lord God throughout the scriptures, is called our ROCK.
As the Psalmist David said in Psalm 18:2,
Psalm 18:2 (ESV)
2 The Lord is my rock and my fortress and my deliverer, my God, my rock, in whom I take refuge, my shield, and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold.
And as He is our Rock, the essence of that Rock and its foundation, is His perfect LOVE; because He is LOVE as the scriptures tell us!
So, you and I, as members of His Body, are built upon and standing on the sure foundation of the true and eternal LOVE of God!
And just as the Lord God is called our ROCK, so also is His Son, Jesus the Christ, called the chief cornerstone and the sure foundation upon which the entire church is established by and built upon!
As Paul said in 1 Corinthians 3:11, “For no one can lay any foundation other than the one we already have—Jesus Christ.”
And as Peter said of the Christ in Acts 4:11, “This is the ‘stone which was rejected by you builders, which has become the chief cornerstone.”
Jesus is chief cornerstone of the whole church body! How many of you know and understand what the cornerstone of an ancient structures really was?
Jesus is chief cornerstone of the whole church body! How many of you know and understand what the cornerstone of an ancient structures really was?
The cornerstone was the very first stone which was carefully cut and laid at the foundation of an edifice. And from this one stone, everything else was measured and aligned with, so that the entire building and its structural integrity was based upon that one stone.
The cornerstone was the very first stone which was carefully cut and laid at the foundation of an edifice. And from this one stone, everything else was measured and aligned with, so that the entire building and its structural integrity was based upon that one stone.
Within the entire worldwide structure known as the church, everything is to be aligned with and measured from the “chief cornerstone”, which is Yeshua, Jesus the Christ! Our lives and our gatherings, that we call the church buildings, are to be measured from and aligned with the one true chief cornerstone, which is Jesus! Everything within the kingdom here on earth, is to built upon Him and aligned with Him and held together by Him! No one else and nothing else should be in that position! It is in Jesus Christ alone, that we are to “live and move and have our being”, as the apostle Paul said.
Within the entire worldwide structure known as the church, everything is to be aligned with and measured from the “chief cornerstone”, which is Yeshua, Jesus the Christ! Our lives and our gatherings, that we call the church buildings, are to be measured from and aligned with the one true chief cornerstone, which is Jesus! Everything within the kingdom here on earth, is to built upon Him and aligned with Him and held together by Him! No one else and nothing else should be in that position! It is in Jesus Christ alone, that we are to “live and move and have our being”, as the apostle Paul said.
And it’s only when we begin to live our lives patterned after Yeshua and aligned with His life, as the one true cornerstone, that we will grow strong in the love of God.
And it’s only when we begin to live our lives patterned after Yeshua and aligned with His life, as the one true cornerstone, that we will grow strong in the love of God.
This is what Paul says to us in Ephesians 3:14-19, where he says,
This is what Paul says to us in Ephesians 3:14-19, where he says,
Ephesians 3:14–19 (ESV)
14 For this reason I bow my knees before the Father,
15 from whom every family in heaven and on earth is named,
16 that according to the riches of His glory He may grant you to be strengthened with power through His Spirit in your inner being,
17 so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith—that you, being rooted and grounded in love,
18 may have strength to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth,
19 and to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled with all the fullness of God.
As the Holy Spirit empowers us and strengthens our inner man, we grow in our relationship with Yeshua and become rooted (an agricultural term) and grounded (a structural reference again referring to the foundation of building) more and more in His love!
And the strengthening of Holy Spirit in the life of a faithful believer, begins to teach them about the fullness of the love of God through Jesus in their life!
Thus Paul says that we may have the strength (the full ability) to comprehend, with all of the saints, (this is not a “one man army”, but rather it is a family growing together) to learn what is the width, the length, the height and depth of the LOVE of God in Christ!
We are to know and treasure this great LOVE, even though it is ultimately too far beyond our natural understanding.
In fact, as Paul mentions in this passage about the “love of Christ that surpasses knowledge”, he understood and wanted us to understand, that “true knowledge”, (which is the knowledge of God), is not attainable without LOVE!
If you say that you are growing in your knowledge of God then it will be evident by the LOVE of God growing in your life as well!
You cannot know God and not know His perfect LOVE in your life!
In I Corinthians 12, the Apostle Paul addressed an issue that was taking place. The Christians of the city of Corinth, who were coming from a deeply pagan and occultic background, were beginning to learn of and desire for, the power and the gifts of the Holy Spirit. So much so, that it was disrupting the growth and the health of the church at that time!
In I Corinthians 12, the Apostle Paul addressed an issue that was taking place. The Christians of the city of Corinth, who were coming from a deeply pagan and occultic background, were beginning to learn of and desire for, the power and the gifts of the Holy Spirit. So much so, that it was disrupting the growth and the health of the church at that time!
And so, Paul, in chapter 12 explains to the church what these 9 manifest gifts of Holy Spirit are, and then in chapter 14 he shows practical application of those gifts in the body. BUT, right in the middle of teaching about what the gifts are and how to use and apply the gifts, Paul hits the breaks and redirects everyone’s attention.
And so, Paul, in chapter 12 explains to the church what these 9 manifest gifts of Holy Spirit are, and then in chapter 14 he shows practical application of those gifts in the body. BUT, right in the middle of teaching about what the gifts are and how to use and apply the gifts, Paul hits the breaks and redirects everyone’s attention.
In chapter 13, Paul shows the Body of Christ, for all generations, by what and how we are to operate. He said that if you had all of the gifts of Holy Spirit and you were able to operate in those gifts at their greatest capacity and yet you did so without LOVE, then you and the gift were worthless in the kingdom of God!
In chapter 13, Paul shows the Body of Christ, for all generations, by what and how we are to operate. He said that if you had all of the gifts of Holy Spirit and you were able to operate in those gifts at their greatest capacity and yet you did so without LOVE, then you and the gift were worthless in the kingdom of God!
For example, Paul said, “If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal.” In other words, if I have the ability to speak in every known language on earth and I also have the ability to speak in a heavenly language amongst others in the church and yet I do so out of my own motives and desires of the flesh and not out of true LOVE.............then I am nothing more than a distraction and a noise to others! And I and that great gift that I possess are of no value in the kingdom of God!
For example, Paul said, “If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal.” In other words, if I have the ability to speak in every known language on earth and I also have the ability to speak in a heavenly language amongst others in the church and yet I do so out of my own motives and desires of the flesh and not out of true LOVE.............then I am nothing more than a distraction and a noise to others! And I and that great gift that I possess are of no value in the kingdom of God!
If what we do as a Christian and why we are doing it is not out of LOVE for those to whom we are doing it, then we might as well stop doing it! Jesus said that if we love Him, then we would keep His commands. And He commanded us to LOVE others! And so, Paul is showing us that if you know all about the gifts in chapter 12 and you know how to apply and use them in the church body as seen in chapter 14, and yet you ignore what’s in the middle, which is chapter 13, then you have nothing, and you have learned nothing and you will never last as a follower!
If what we do as a Christian and why we are doing it is not out of LOVE for those to whom we are doing it, then we might as well stop doing it! Jesus said that if we love Him, then we would keep His commands. And He commanded us to LOVE others! And so, Paul is showing us that if you know all about the gifts in chapter 12 and you know how to apply and use them in the church body as seen in chapter 14, and yet you ignore what’s in the middle, which is chapter 13, then you have nothing, and you have learned nothing and you will never last as a follower!
You see, the Bible says that without “faith” it is impossible to please God........well, without LOVE, it is impossible to even KNOW God! Being zealous for those gifts and for the power of Holy Spirit in your life, apart from true agape LOVE, is meaningless!
You see, the Bible says that without “faith” it is impossible to please God........well, without LOVE, it is impossible to even KNOW God! Being zealous for those gifts and for the power of Holy Spirit in your life, apart from true agape LOVE, is meaningless!
It is for this reason that J.I. Packer wrote in his book, “Knowing God”:
“We show a great deal more interest in the gifts of healing and tongues—gifts of which, as Paul pointed out, not all Christians are meant to partake anyway than in the Spirit’s ordinary work of giving peace, joy, hope and love, through the shedding abroad in our hearts of knowledge of the love of God. Yet the latter is much more important than the former. To the Corinthians, who had taken it for granted that the more tongues the merrier, and the godlier too, Paul had to insist that without love—sanctification, Christlikeness— tongues were worth precisely nothing!
And so, in 1 Corinthians 13:4-8, Paul shows us what agape LOVE looks like in the life of a believer.
If you have your Bible handy, turn with me please to the book of 1 Corinthians 13 and we will take a look at the 16 traits of true LOVE!
If you have your Bible handy, turn with me please to the book of 1 Corinthians 13 and we will take a look at the 16 traits of true LOVE!
1 Corinthians 13 (ESV)
4 Love is patient and kind; love does not envy or boast; it is not arrogant
5 or rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful;
6 it does not rejoice at wrongdoing, but rejoices with the truth.
7 Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.
8 Love never ends. As for prophecies, they will pass away; as for tongues, they will cease; as for knowledge, it will pass away.
13 So now faith, hope, and love abide, these three; but the greatest of these is LOVE.
Love is patient!
This one right out of the gait, is difficult for many, if not most people!
As we have discussed recently, we are a “quick fix” society. And within the “body of Christ”, we operate out of what some call, “microwave Christianity”!
In other words we want it NOW! We want results NOW, our prayers answered NOW, we want our financial burdens lifted NOW, our children saved NOW, our marriages intact and free from strife, NOW!
There is little to no room for the word, PATIENT, in many Christian’s vocabulary these days.
When we think of being patient with others, as a Christian, we probably think that we have met that aspect of LOVE, because we did something like “patiently” waited for the little old lady at the grocery store to count out the $25 she owes in nickels and dimes, while the line was backing up!
The word that Paul uses for the verb “patient”, means the opposite of, “short- tempered”!
It is restraint in our thoughts, our words and our actions towards others!
This is not patience towards a circumstance or a situation, but rather, it is being patient with PEOPLE!
It is literally the opposite of being hot tempered and quick to anger!
This is why I believe that it is listed first in this passage. Love is retrained anger and control over our outbursts and feelings of anger towards others!
Patience in a Christian is actually one of the fruit of Holy Spirit that is to be in our lives, as Galatians 5:22 tells us.
We see this same attribute of LOVE perfectly shown and demonstrated towards us from God the Father, as in 2 Peter 3:9, which says,
2 Peter 3:9 (ESV)
9 The Lord is not slow to fulfill his promise as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance.
Or again in Romans 2:4, where we read,
Romans 2:4 (ESV)
4 Or do you presume on the riches of his kindness and forbearance and patience, not knowing that God’s kindness is meant to lead you to repentance?
God is patient with us, as He waits for us to come to Him in repentance.
And even after we come to know God through His Son, God is constantly showing us great patience as He watches us mess up and sin, again......and again.....and again......and again!
Being “patient” means that we are to be, “long suffering”.
The understanding there is simple. Even if we are miserable in the situation that we are in the middle of, we are to continue on in that situation for the good of the other person.
In a marriage, this is very much needed in today’s society!
People are signing agreements that state if they can’t get along in the marriage within a certain period of time, then they can just dissolve the whole thing and each person walks away with what they came into the “marriage” with and go their separate ways in joy and in peace!
Being patient in LOVE means that you love that person in middle of the MOST difficult and painful and trying times, until there is resolve and healing.
Jesus, loved His disciples until the end, when He went and died for them, as John 13:1 says.
And as Jesus taught us,, being patient with others means that we forgive them without end, “70 times 7” as He said!
Patiently enduring forces us to release the sin of pride and self, and to look out for betterment of the other person!
Hebrews 12:2 says that Jesus, “for the joy set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.”
He “endured” the cross and the shame and ridicule and mocking and scoffing and humiliation associated with it for you and I!
He was “long suffering” for our sake. He was patient in His suffering for you and for me!
LOVE IS PATIENT!
Love is KIND! This is the only place in the New Testament that you will find this one Greek word that Paul uses for the word, “kind”, as found in this passage. Some say that Paul coined a word for this passage, to stress the importance of being “kind”!
Love is KIND! This is the only place in the New Testament that you will find this one Greek word that Paul uses for the word, “kind”, as found in this passage. Some say that Paul coined a word for this passage, to stress the importance of being “kind”!
It is being benevolent and merciful to others; especially when they don’t deserve it!
Jesus said for us to, “Love our enemies, do good to those who hate us; to bless those who curse us, and pray for those who mistreat us.”
This is being “kind” to others!
Love is not jealous! This description of LOVE was very timely and important when Paul gave it. The church of Corinth was becoming jealous over one another’s spiritual gifts and abilities and it was causing divisions in the body!
Love is not jealous! This description of LOVE was very timely and important when Paul gave it. The church of Corinth was becoming jealous over one another’s spiritual gifts and abilities and it was causing divisions in the body!
Enter the modern church America. If someone is not receiving accolades and recognition for who and what they are and what they are doing, and someone else is recognized, then they become jealous and leave the church and take their “business” elsewhere!
True love does not envy others and what they have and how God has chosen to bless them!
And much in the same way as true love is not jealous of others, it also is not boastful or proud of its own!
And much in the same way as true love is not jealous of others, it also is not boastful or proud of its own!
As we said last week, “God opposes the proud, but gives grace to the humble”!
Pride destroys LOVE, it never edifies and builds it up! Pride is what is seen in the modern love of society.
It demands of others to give, and only receives for itself. IT NEVER GIVES!
Pride is the descriptive term used of the LGBT community that represents them.
And this is accurate. Homosexuality is an open sin, as are so many other sins today that people engage in, and all sin is based off of pride of self and wanting to fulfill one’s own desires of the flesh.
So, if you use “pride” as your descriptive term, when you are living in sin, then you are being very accurate!
But there is NO AGAPE LOVE in pride!
The Bible says in Proverbs 16:5 that
5 Everyone proud and arrogant in heart is disgusting, hateful, and exceedingly offensive to the Lord; be assured [I pledge it] they will not go unpunished.
LOVE is not rude. The meaning here of this word in the Greek, is that a person does not act inappropriately and shamefully; indecent behavior!
LOVE is not rude. The meaning here of this word in the Greek, is that a person does not act inappropriately and shamefully; indecent behavior!
We live in a day and age, according to one journalist from the Wall Street Journal, where he said that we are a “renaissance of rudeness”!
But being rude and crude and abusive towards others has no place in the kingdom of God.
Love does not demand its own way (a.k.a. “self-centeredness/ pride!)
Love does not demand its own way (a.k.a. “self-centeredness/ pride!)
Love is not irritable or resentful!
Love is not irritable or resentful!
Have you ever looked at someone and they just instantly appear as if they wanted to rip your head off?
That is not the trait of agape love and of a true Christian.
We are not to be easily provoked and quick to get upset with others!
The word for resentful refers to keeping record of others wrong doings.
II Corinthians 5:19 tells us that God released, no longer keeps a record of our wrong doings when we come to Him through Jesus the Christ!
And if He can release our wrong doings for us, then we must also do the same for others!
We are not to save up a list, or a ledger of someone’s faults, so that we can win an argument, or make them pay one day for their faults!
Love does not rejoice at wrongdoings (injustice).
Love does not rejoice at wrongdoings (injustice).
It is so easy to allow ourselves to find joy and pleasure in seeing someone who has wronged us, falling into misfortune and suffering.
People love to read in the papers about some evil politician, or other notorious figure who has succumbed to sickness, or malady, or some other form of repayment for the wrong that they have done.
That is not LOVE though. We are to pray for others and show kindness that they may see the LOVE of God in us and possibly repent and come to know the Christ!
But not high-five one another and celebrate the misfortunes of others!
Love rejoices with the truth!
Love rejoices with the truth!
The truth is Jesus and His gospel message. When we see TRUTH coming into another person’s life, then we truly rejoice with them and for them, because we are seeing the LOVE of God changing another life!
It is important that we stay united as one body and cling to the TRUTH of the Word of God with every fiber of our being, because our nation is drifting away from the TRUTH and creating for itself, another version of what it true.
That is, what tickles their ears and appeases their conscience.
Finish reading the attributes of love in verse 7-8. And elaborate.
I Corinthians 13:13 says,
I Corinthians 13:13 says,
13 So now faith, hope, and love abide, these three; but the greatest of these is love.
READ story from Jim Cymbala.